Searching for the Sun
by The One You'll Never Forget
Summary: Nico is tired, and just wants to get this quest over with. Will is nervous, and wants to prove that he can be more than just a healer. Leo is excited, and can't wait to get another chance at the action. All three must work together to take down a mysterious foe who has stolen Apollo's sun chariot, before the entire country goes down in flames.
1. Nico just wants to sleep

To say that Nico was unhappy would be a colossal understatement.

He was sitting in the rec room of the Big House, freezing to death (pun not intended) in his pajamas, all because Chiron had decided to call an emergency counselor meeting in the middle of the night. Really, the only thing keeping Nico from not unleashing an armada of zombies upon everything and everyone was Will, who currently was holding Nico's hand, possibly to keep him from getting up and leaving. Will could probably feel Nico shivering by now, but if he noticed, he didn't say anything. Nico's mind drifted back to when Will had woken him up a few minutes ago.

 _Nico woke to the slight clicking of his door opening. Through the haze of exhaustion he was able to make out a vaguely familiar figure outlined in his doorway. Nico mumbled something unintelligible and slowly drifted back to sleep. He tried to remember what he had been dreaming about. It had been pleasant, and involved strawberries and gelato. Or was it strawberry gelato? Nico was on the brink of dozing off again when something lightly brushed his cheek. It felt nice, but Nico wanted to sleep. He shifted, turning his face away. Nico felt the same brush on his cheek again, and he grumbled in protest._

 _"Nico," a voice Nico knew all too well whispered. "Nico, wake up."_

 _Nico grumbled again, turning his face once more away from the source._

 _"C'mon Nico," the voice said again, poking Nico in the cheek._

 _Nico opened one eye in irritation. He glared murderously at the offender, who happened to be Will Solace, the annoying son of Apollo who was also Nico's boyfriend._

 _"Go away," Nico muttered, pulling the covers over his head._

 _Will gently pulled the covers away from Nico's head and, before Nico could protest, lifted him out of the bed._

 _"What are you doing?!" Nico exclaimed indignantly._

 _"Chiron said to get you out of bed," Will replied with a bright smile, but there were bags under his eyes._

 _Nico rolled his eyes. Will carried him bridal-style all the way to the Big House, Nico being too tired to complain._

"Nico? Are you listening?"

Nico jumped, realizing that he was falling asleep. Will was looking at him with mixed concern and amusement, while Chiron stared at Nico expectantly.

"Sorry," Nico said. "What did I miss?"

Nico heard one of the campers whisper, "Great. Now we have another Clovis."

"What we had been discussing is the current issue of Apollo having, er…misplaced the sun chariot," Chiron said patiently.

Nico's eyes widened in surprise. "Apollo lost the sun?" he asked bluntly. "How is that possible?"

"Apparently, Apollo had parked his chariot to go see a Beyonce concert, and when he returned, it was gone," Chiron explained with a pained expression.

Will buried his face in his hands. Nico tried to imagine what it would be like if his father was anything like Apollo. That would be a nightmare. Nico shuddered.

"Will, can you please recount your dream to the rest of us?" Chiron asked.

Will glanced up, the tips of his ears still slightly red from embarrassment.

"So, in my dream, there was an empty chariot being pulled by horses through this field, and it was setting everything in its path on fire. And then suddenly there was someone riding the chariot, completely engulfed in flames. The chariot sped off towards some city, but then the flames got to me and I couldn't see anything. That's when I woke up," Will said, frowning as he spoke.

The room was silent. Suddenly, Nico blurted, "The city is Los Angeles."

Everyone stared at Nico in shock.

"How do you know?" Piper McLean asked, being the quickest to recover from Nico's sudden outburst.

"Several people are dying near Los Angeles. There's a trail of departing souls leading all the way from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, as well as a visible trail of wildfires."

"Where did you get that information from, Nico?" Chiron asked.

"One of my informants told me yesterday," Nico shrugged nonchalantly, as if receiving information from the undead was an everyday thing for him…which it probably was.

Chiron blinked, saying, "Well, I suppose we should make Los Angeles where we look first, then. Now we need to decide who's-"

"I'll go," Will cut in, looking more serious than Nico's ever seen him, except for when he's working to save someone's life. "Apollo is my father, and I'm the one who had the dream, so I have to be the one to go."

"Will, are you sure?" Chiron asked, slightly worried. Nico could tell Chiron was choosing his words carefully as he said, "Your abilities…are needed here. We can't afford to lose our best healer."

Will did not seem very pleased by Chiron's praise. "I have to go," he demanded.

There was a slight pause before Piper spoke, "I don't see why he shouldn't go." She looked around, almost as if she were challenging someone to disagree with her. "Will's healed more people than I can count, and I haven't even been at camp that long. I think he deserves it."

Will smiled gratefully at Piper, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I'll go, too," Nico said, glancing at Will, who started grinning like an idiot. "My skills will come in handy, especially since one of the Underworld's main entrances lies in Los Angeles."

"Very well," Chiron agreed. "Will and Nico, is there anyone you would like to choose as the third for the quest?"

Before either Nico or Will could say a word, someone spoke up. "C'mon guys, isn't it obvious?" Leo Valdez spread his hands out like he was giving out free hugs. "Fire is my specialty, remember? My name is practically written all over this quest."

"Alright, then. You three will leave immediately, as soon as you get your things situated," Chiron said, ignoring Nico's sounds of protest.

"Wait, we're leaving now?" Leo asked incredulously.

"Of course," Chiron replied. "The sun chariot must be retrieved immediately, or the damage and trauma it causes will be too great to fix."

"Will the sun even rise without Apollo driving it through the sky?" Will asked, glancing nervously out the window at the dark sky.

"Yes. Other forces will still keep the sun moving in its usual course. However, having our sun running rampant through civilization would cause a major rift in the balance," Chiron explained. "Now hurry to your cabins and pack your things. There isn't much time. Argus will drive you into the city."

The meeting was over. Everyone walked (or in some cases, stumbled) out the door, eager to get back to sleep.

"I'll see you guys at Half-Blood Hill!" Leo shouted to Will and Nico before bounding out the door with more energy than all of the campers combined.

"See you in a few minutes," Will said to Nico, still smiling but looking a little nervous.

"Yeah, see you," Nico replied.

Nico headed back to his cabin, shivering in the cold air. While packing the few items he had, Nico looked longingly at his bed. What had he gotten himself into?


	2. Leo the Third Wheel

Leo was getting bored. His hands fidgeted with random parts from his tool belt, making a sort of windup toy that looked like a cross between a helicopter and a dog. He wound it up and watched as it flew around the back of the cab him, Will, and Nico were sitting in. Will, who was sitting between Leo and Nico, eyed the helicopter dog wearily, as if it might start shooting lasers and breathing fire. Leo was pretty sure that wouldn't happen, though he would only be slightly surprised if it did. Leo glanced out the window. They were almost at the train station, thank the gods. Leo's legs were cramping up from staying still too long.

Their plan was to get to Los Angeles by train, since Will refused to let Nico shadow-travel them. Leo was secretly relieved about that. Nico's powers gave him the creeps. The cab suddenly lurched to a stop at the light, and Nico's sleeping form collapsed onto Will. Strangely enough, Will didn't jump or pray to the gods for mercy, as Leo probably would've done. Will just glanced at Nico and smiled ever so slightly. Leo found that extremely unusual, considering that Nico was, well, _Nico_.

When the cab finally got to the train station, Will woke Nico up. Nico must've been really tired, because he didn't seem to have noticed that he had been sleeping on Will's shoulder. Leo was eager to get out of the cab. His right foot had fallen asleep, and the rest of his body was starting to follow suit. Leo grabbed his backpack, which was full of drachmas, mortal money, ambrosia, nectar, and junk food. Just a typical starter package for all of Leo's demigodly needs. Leo still felt weird, carrying something other than his toolbelt. There was also that ominous feeling Leo had, as if something was about to go wrong, which it probably was.

"My demigod senses are tingling," Leo said out loud.

"What?" Will said, while Nico glared at Leo (was that his default emotion?) as if he were a small, annoying fly that Nico was desperately trying not to slap out of the air.

"Nothing," Leo said quickly.

They had managed to gather their stuff and reach the sidewalk by the time something _did_ go wrong.

"You forgot something, dear," the cab lady said, holding up Leo's helicopter dog.

"Lady, what is wrong with your face?!" Leo shouted in surprise.

In retrospect, that may have not been the smartest thing to say at the time, but Leo was caught off guard. The taxi driver was horrifyingly ugly, with bronze tusks coming out of her mouth, glowing red eyes, chicken feet, and snakes instead of hair, which were tucked into a yellow cap. Will yelped and dropped Nico's backpack, which he was carrying along with his own. Nico paused halfway through a yawn, his eyes widening.

"That's a gorgon," Nico stated bluntly.

"Oh no, was I that obvious? I knew I should've stuck with the Bargain Market disguise," the gorgon said, frowning at her uniform, the name tag reading "Stheno."

"You know what?" Leo said nervously. "You can keep that toy."

"Keep it? But I must return it to you. I'd hate to steal from my passengers. It goes against the taxicab driver code," Stheno said.

"But…aren't you planning to kill us?" Will asked.

"Yes."

Will frowned. "Doesn't killing go against your code, too?"

Stheno looked confused. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

"Alright, then," Leo said, slowly backing away from the gorgon. "I guess we'll leave now."

Stheno continued to look confused as the three demigods backed away. Suddenly, a shriek pierced through the air.

"Idiot! What do you think you're doing?"

Another gorgon, looking and dressed almost identically to Stheno, glared at her sister. She also had a name tag, reading "Euryale."

"Why are you letting the demigods get away?" she asked Stheno angrily.

"It goes against the code…" Stheno replied, blinking in confusion.

"Code? What code?"

"For taxicab drivers."

"This job is just a cover! You're not supposed to take it seriously!"

As the ugly sisters continued arguing, Leo glanced at his two companions. They all shared one thought: _Run_. Leo sprinted down the sidewalk, followed closely behind by Will and Nico. Behind him he heard shouts of "Wait!" and "They're getting away!" which encouraged him to run faster. Suddenly, Leo heard the sound of flapping wings. He turned to see the gorgons soaring through the air, getting dangerously close to the three. Leo cursed. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his, and everything faded into darkness.

Leo's vision cleared, revealing Nico and Will standing in front of him, arguing. They seemed to be in a…train station? How did that happen?

"They were almost on top of us," Nico grumbled, looking halfway conscious.

"We could've fought them, Nico! You know you're not in any shape to shadow-travel," Will complained.

Nico glared halfheartedly at Will, but he collapsed before he could respond. Will sighed and picked Nico, now unconscious, up as if he weighed nothing.

"Let's get on this train before any other monsters decided to attack," Will said to Leo.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Leo replied, eyeing Nico nervously. "Does he normally pass out like this?"

"Ever since Nico overextended his abilities transporting the statue, he hasn't been able to shadow-travel even the smallest of distances without falling unconscious," Will replied, frowning slightly.

Leo picked up Nico's backpack, and Will and he boarded the train. A few minutes later, they were seated. Leo felt his eyelids closing, but he fought to stay awake. He glanced at Will, who was staring out the window, Nico's head in his lap. He was absent-mindedly stroking Nico's hair.

"Are you two…close?" Leo asked Will, figuring that talking would help snap him out of his stupor.

Will stared at Leo for a count of seven seconds, before replying, "Yeah, you could say that." The corner of his mouth twitched, as if he found Leo's question funny.

"What? Is my nose on fire?" Leo asked bewilderedly. His nose always seemed to betray him at the worst moments.

"No," Will said. "I'm just surprised that no one told you."

"Told me what?"

"Nico and I are dating," Will replied, looking down at Nico fondly.

Leo's exhausted brain took a few seconds to process that. Nico and Will…were dating…which meant…

"Oh no!" Leo blurted out loud, startling Will and earning a few glares from other people on the train.

Will looked hurt. "What, do you have a problem with it?" he asked defensively.

"No, it's totally cool that you guys are dating, but…"

"But what?"

Leo sighed dramatically. "I'm the third wheel _again_ ," he groaned.

Will stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"Every single quest I've been on, I'm always the third wheel," Leo explained. "First with Jason and Piper, then with the whole Prophecy of Seven, and now with you and Nico."

Will continued to stare, before laughing. "Wow, that sucks," he said after he caught his breath.

"I know, right?" Leo said with mocked anger. "Like, is it too much to ask for just _one_ quest where I don't have to watch people giving each other googly eyes?"

Will grinned. "Alright, Third Wheeler-"

"I refuse to be called that."

"-why don't you get some sleep? I can see your eyelids drooping."

"Are you sure?" Leo said, yawning.

"Yeah. I'll take first watch," Will said, leaning back against the seat.

"Thanks, man," Leo managed to say, before collapsing onto the semi-comfortable seat underneath him. Within seconds, he was fast asleep.


End file.
